A couple of old horses face off today in L.A. Just about 14 hours after the conclusion of Game 1, the Phillies and Dodgers will do battle once again with Pedro Martinez taking the hill against ex-Phil Vicente Padilla.

Pedro has not pitched since September 30 against Houston, so lets hope there isn’t too much rust. He has tossed only seven innings since throwing 130 pitches against the New York Mets back on September 13. There is some pressure on Martinez to come out of the gate quickly, without incident, because he has a penchant for giving up early runs. Opponents hit three home runs in nine first-innings against Pedro this season with the Phillies. He’s given up a total of six runs in those nine starts. After that, he normally calms down, as he has proven with his four runs allowed from the fourth to the sixth innings of his starts.

Vicente Padilla is a surprising start in Game 2 for the Dodgers. The guess here is that Joe Torre did not want Padilla pitching in Philly on a cold night with hostile fans berating him. Smart move. Padilla has been nothing short of brilliant since being picked up, going 4-0 through seven starts. However, he struggles mightily in the middle innings, something the Phillies offense will surely pick up on. The Phillies have scored 18 runs between the fourth and sixth innings in five playoff games in ’09. Look for the trend to continue, although a few early on couldn’t hurt either.

The Good: Brad Lidge coming in and nailing it down for yet another save. Is he back to his old ways? Also, Ryan Howard now has 8 RBI in five games this postseason. Look out, Reggie Jackson.

Your Gameday Beer – Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA
While enjoying this afternoon game, grab some delicious Dogfish 120. It’ll make you hop, for sure. It is continuously hopped with high-alpha American hops, then dry-hopped daily in the fermenter for a month & aged for another month on whole-leaf hops. The 20% ABV make this more like jungle juice than beer, but it should give you a nice dayload as the Phils look to take Game 2. Enjoy with some charred burgers and beans, but prepare for a rough Saturday morning. Hop to it. – By Pat